Getting Cash for Your BIG Idea

I’m married to a lawyer. When people ask what kind of lawyer, he answers “a good one”. I say “a nice one”. Which is probably why he is no longer really practicing as a lawyer. You can’t be a nice lawyer for long without it coming back to bite you in the derriere and that just gets really aggravating. But I’m only mentioning all this because, as a corporate attorney, he’s always, constantly had clients looking for funding. I’ve heard all the ugly financing stories, the rapacious VCs, etc. And the small companies, or individuals whose projects could really change a life or a career never, ever get a chance at financing of any sort. This is why this latest crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter.com, really rocks.

Kickstarter is a great tool for artists, writers, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, athletes, adventurers, inventors, bloggers, comic book creators, explorers, curators, promoters, performers, and lots of others.

There is no fee for projects to apply, but the site is still in beta, so it’s by invitation only. If you’ve got a project that is still just “a dream” because you don’t know where you’ll get the dough to get it done, this might just be your chance.

There are requirements, bien sûr, but nothing convoluted and this are all explained here.

What’s in it for the “investor”? Actually the funds are called pledges, not investments. Because the people who pledge get the satisfaction of knowing that they are backing a project(s) that they are interested in, no strings attached. And actually, pledges are only disbursed once the project has attained its total financing goal and deadline. It’s all or nothing. That speaks to the merit of the project and the follow-up networking skills of the pledge recipient. One can pledge anywhere from $2 to $5000 or more and get various “incentives” along the way, such as, for example, your name in the film credits ($25) or your name in the film credits + DVD ($100), etc…

At the moment, I am considering these projects:
-    A new Travel & Lifestyle website for hip & savvy women
-    A movie project about the chemists who developed “cold fusion”
-    A film about a real neighbor to Mr. Rogers
-    A giant Theremin to be built at the Pop Montreal Symposium headquarters. (WTH is a Theremin?)

So, fun stuff and your chance to make someone’s dreams come true. Plus your name in the credits. Worth every penny.